Disclaimer- *author rolls her eyes* I of course do not own escaflowne

Disclaimer- *author rolls her eyes* I of course do not own escaflowne. If I did I would be filthy rich, which I am not.

Notes- Sorry it took me a week to get this out, but I was trying to think of something a little exciting happening in this chapter. Don't worry I thought of *something*. Hope you like this chapter. Read and review please.

Daybreak…

The chilly mist awoke Hitomi up from her slumber. She felt strong arms around her waist and smiled softly. She turned slightly, so she now facing Van. Hitomi kissed Van softly as he slowly awoke to deepen the kiss further. He opened his eyes slowly after they parted to stare into his lovers smiling face. She slowly sat up looking over to Allen who was still unconscious, but at least he looked to be sleeping peacefully.

Getting up he felt the cold mist that Hitomi had felt earlier. Looking over himself he decided that, 'I've been in worst shape and Hitomi has saved me more than once, so I am lucky to even be alive,' he thought, 'I owe her so much; I might not be able to give her anything in return to be enough for her.' Glancing over to Hitomi he saw that she was scanning the area for any sign of the enemy. Then he blanched at the thought that they hadn't eaten in quite a while.

'I'm really hungry, but we have more problems on our hands without food,' Hitomi thought to herself. There was no sign of the enemy, but she was sure they were out there. 'Van and Allen were in worst shape than me and we have enough problems as it is,' she thought, 'Let me see; food, Merle, Jake, injuries, the list goes on, but me must get out of here to ho find the others.' She turned to Van and said without expression, "let's go."

The two draconians, with now spread wings, shot straight out of the cave not looking back. Hitomi used her pendant to guide them in the direction where the enemy castle was, east. Flying though the clouds, so nobody would see them, Hitomi used her pendant again to figure out they need to head south. Yet further ahead of them they were in for quite a nasty surprise.

Another mile down they ran into the last thing they expected to run into. A dragon. Oh, only your ordinary dragon. Fifteen feet tall, with scales as red as lava; they had an interesting glow about them. Eyes blazing with fury at something that was unknown to Hitomi and Van. The ten foot long tail had about twenty long spikes running down it and looked, well, uh painful enough to kill someone. Claws sharper than an eagle's eyes livid with rage. 'Yep the best week I've ever had in my life,' thought Hitomi sarcastically.

The dragon reeled throwing itself at them. It's tail came around; Hitomi dodged, but not fats enough. It's tail clipped her in the arm making a deep gash she have to tend to later if she ever got out of this mess. At least Van dodged fast enough. The dragon had yet another surprise though. Fire. Out of fury the dragon opened its mouth wide and shot fire towards them. Van had barely enough time to slam into Hitomi moving them just out of the range of the blazing fire. The winding river was still below them, which gave Hitomi an idea. It was a long shot, but it might just work.

Flying back towards the dragon getting its attention was the hard part. She flew up carefully circling the dragon a few times before it happened. The dragon charged at her with such speed she had to do 360 to avoid it. She dived looking over her shoulder to make sure the dragon was still following her. The dragon was right on her tail. She getting closer, closer, 'NOW' her mind screamed. She pulled up from a magnificent dive while the dragon plunged into the deep river.

Slowly, breathing heavily as if she had just ran a long ways, she fluttered up to Van. He had watched the whole thing with a look of shock and horror on his face. When she finally got up to him, he grabbed her in a tight hug like he never wanted to let go and said, " NEVER do that again!!" With that he kissed her with all the built up passion he had inside of him. When they parted both were gasping for breath. With that he watched her like a hawk until they in view of a cave near the castle. By now it was almost dusk and they needed to rest, so they that's what they did for the night.

Meanwhile lets go back to dawn…

"Captain, they're leaving," said an out of breath sentry.

"WHAT," the captain roared jumping out of bed.

Sure enough he opened the tent and saw Hitomi and Van quite a distance away. The captain shouted orders at the men to pack up and from a line. When he used that tone of voice they knew to listen. They started following the general some distance away from him, so he couldn't lash out at them. He was headed back to the castle and the general was definitely NOT going to be very happy.

Walking along the rapid river they were silent for the most part. None were idiotic enough to bother the captain. Alloran, the sentry, kept a vigil watch over the woods for any sign of life. He knew dragons lived in this part and would not be a pleasant surprise to meet up with one in their current state.

Suddenly out of nowhere a familiar furious dragon attacked. Killing three instantly with it's tail and five more with it's fiery breath. Now there were only about four soldiers left. The dragon killed two more with it's claws. The only two that were left were Alloran and Falon. Alloran dived into the river as an attempt to escape while Falon ran for it. Nobody knows what happened to Alloran, but Falon died of injuries that night after successfully escaping the dragon's wrath. Evil never wins.

Inside the castle walls…

Merle and Jake would not last another two days in this place. They had to get out of here fast, but how? They hadn't had any food in a week and their water supply was very low. Rats scattered across the floor going to where ever rats go. The sewers probably. Guards had been in and out checking on them. Darkness surrounded Merle and she welcomed it.

Jake was doing more or less as bad as she was. Hanging almost lifeless against the wall. The only thing keeping him alive was the fact his sister was still there for him. Spiders lingered on the ceiling with roaches and rats on the floor. Nobody could enjoy this place. None would be crazy enough to want to stay here for any more than a minute. They were going to get out of here, but how was the question. Darkness also surrounded him and like Merle, he welcomed it.

A little later…

Light filled the room, but wait. 'What room' Jake asked himself as he looked around and he eyes adjusted to the light. Merle voiced it aloud, "What happened?" What they saw shocked them beyond belief.

Hey guys. I hope you enjoyed that chapter. The chapter is the epilogue ok? Hope you enjoy it. Please review I really like your opinions. Catch ya later. Ja ne. ~Firestone~